Journey along the Silk Road

Knowledge and skills

Locational knowledge

Mapping skills

Human geography

At the beginning of the first century BCE, a network of trade routes from east to west started to emerge. This route was named ‘The Silk Road’ because of how silk found its way along the route from China to Europe. Exploring the Silk Road and looking at the trading that went on along it will take your class on an exotic journey rich in stories, geography and history.

Our ‘Silk Road slideshow’ will help you as you talk about the different areas the traders encountered on their journey. Encourage the children to think about what it must have been like. Explain that The Silk Road wasn’t a road as we would understand the term today. It was not tarmacked and there were no white lines. In many places it was barely a road. Sometimes it was called ‘The Road with Many Routes’ as it was actually a network of trails that went from east to west.